Adobe CEO Shantanu Narayen said Thursday that the argument between Apple and his company over the lack of Adobe Flash on iOS is over, while also predicting that tablets running Google's Android will eventually overtake the iPad.

Narayen made the comments in an on-stage interview with journalist Walt Mossberg at the D9 conference hosted by All Things D. When asked by Mossberg whether "Adobe and Apple are done having the argument" over Flash, the executive said, "Absolutely."

Apple CEO Steve Jobs and Narayen engaged in a public war of words last year. Last year, Jobs published an open letter accusing Adobe Flash of not having "performed well on mobile devices." Narayen fired back with his own letter dismissing Jobs' comments as a "smokescreen" and blaming "the Apple operating system" for crashes that Jobs had attributed to Flash.

During Thursday's interview, Narayen asserted that the disagreement between the two companies hadn't ultimately been about the technology. "It's a business model issue, and it's about control of a platform," he said.

Narayen continued to stress Adobe's multi-platform strategy, noting that applications compiled in Adobe AIR can be easily converted for iOS and Apple's App Store. According to the executive, Apple has been approving such applications because it "still has control of the business model associated with it."

The Adobe chief touted the fact that his company will have 130 million phone devices that run Flash by the end of the year. However, Mossberg responded by interjecting that he had "yet to test a single one where Flash works really well,"

Narayen compared himself to "a kid in a candy shop" working with companies producing non-iPad tablets. I think the community is vibrant. Im really excited, he said.

"There is more power on these devices now than when we delivered Photoshop on a PC several years ago," Narayen said. "So we are clearly betting on these devices not just being consumption devices but also productivity devices for our community." Narayen promised that Adobe would bring all of its creative applications to tablets.

Just as with smartphones, Android, which supports Flash will eventually hit "an inflection point" with tablets and overtake the iPad, Narayen predicted. He also sees HP and RIM gaining traction with tablets in the enterprise.

When you take the rate of iPad growth, Android Tablet growth, and Adobe Flash decline I think that whenever this supposed day happens Flash won't be around to see it. Google will need to figure out how to get people to buy apps too. I'm not sure how meaningful fire sale growth is. I'm sure they will gain as much traction in the enterprise as Adobe Air...

"There is more power on these devices now than when we delivered Photoshop on a PC several years ago," Narayen said.

Ah, the good old days when Photoshop and most other Adobe software (I'm looking at you Illustrator and Acrobat Reader) wasn't a bloated piece of junk. Of course, this is what happens when there is no competition.

As for Flash, I foresee its heyday coming to an end. I don't know if it will ever completely disappear, but I think its dominance is going to fade. After all, when I watch something as simple as Hulu and the Flash plugin pegs a 2.0 GHz dual core C2D processor at 165% for a few seconds numerous times in a single episode that is not going to cut it on mobile devices.

Eventually, the sales of android tablets being made by every other manufacturer on the planet might just sell more than one tablet made by one manufacturer. It might be many years from now, but it'll probably happen, just like with the phones.

When people compare iOS to Android, they're comparing 1 company VS everybody else, which includes hundreds of companies. That tells you how strong Apple is compared to everybody else.

Granted HTML5 is taking off a bit slow the fact is it's growing and it doesn't require using the software from Adobe or any other corporation.

Adobe's CEO seems to think that Android phones and tablets will somehow be the savior of Flash when in fact the real danger is HTML5 and other tech that doesn't require expensive software to leverage becoming the standard.

No one is excited about Flash ...it's kind of the incumbent technology that's waiting to get put out to pasture once the young plucky stalwart comes to take the throne.

He's a mod so he has a few extra vBulletin privileges. That doesn't mean he should stop posting or should start acting like Digital Jesus.- SolipsismX

Flash is mostly for dumb people who like to be bombarded with intrusive ads.

I use click2flash and the majority of flash content on sites that I visit are nothing but ads. I love seeing those grey boxes when I visit a site, because that tells me that it saved me from seeing some grotesque looking, extremely colorful, possibly blinking and flashing, annoying ad for something that I have zero interest in looking at. It's offensive. It's like getting flashed by a pervert in the street.

I wish all these delusional CEOs would just get together in a club somewhere and stop bothering progress. That way they can sit around, smoking cigars and stroking each other's egos while their companies fade into irrelevance. RIM? Dead. HP Tablets? DOA. MS Windows 8? Lackluster but will probably be forced on everyone. Android? Fragmented OS, market and unsustainable market for apps. They will keep market share by giving away the farm. Adobe Flash? Ancient history. So I suppose the "leadership" of these companies can stay firmly in yesteryear and talk about the glory days as a way to make them feel better about their own failures. In meantime, progressing companies like Facebook and Apple are going to bound into the future.

Narayen fired back with his own letter dismissing Jobs' comments as a "smokescreen" and blaming "the Apple operating system" for crashes that Jobs had attributed to Flash.

And the crashing on Windows?

Quote:

The Adobe chief touted the fact that his company will have 130 million phone devices that run Flash by the end of the year. However, Mossberg responded by interjecting that he had "yet to test a single one where Flash works really well,"

and then there was silence. lol. Seriously, he looked like someone kicked his dog

I think Adobe Flash will fail only when users decided to use alternative methods.

Users are sheep and just want to watch the video or play the game. They don't really care about the format they just want the end product.

It's the developers that will decide on Flash. If they can find a tool that let's them do what they need to without flash they'll use it because the mobile market will be large enough that this makes sense.

He's a mod so he has a few extra vBulletin privileges. That doesn't mean he should stop posting or should start acting like Digital Jesus.- SolipsismX

Apologies for the coming rant. I'm so tired of hearing people talk about this inevitable end of the iPad era, where the pathetic little apple tablet will become this irrelevant has been. If it happens then fine, so be it. But how many competitor's tablets will be exalted on high as the obvious iPad killer, yet only to disappear shortly after it's release? Remember when samsung was to bring the pain down on apple? Then it was motorola, then rim, now god if you're listening please let it be hp. I'm fine with competition, but i'd like just for once that competition to speak for itself. Let android overtake apple in tablet market share, it may well be inevitable, and the way I see it the better for us consumers. Keep apple constantly on their toes so they don't get too stagnant. But I guess what I'm tired of hearing is these CEOs always talking, never doing. Sorry rant is over.

Have you ever heard of a terrorist being captured with a Mac? When Bin Laden was killed like the degenerate scum that he was, do you think that they confiscated a Mac laptop? When Shiek Mohammed (soon to be dead, hopefully) was captured and had his laptop confiscated, do you think it was a Macbook? I don't.

There might be a terrorist or two out there that has a Mac. There are enough of them out there and the possibility that some of them have Macs is not far fetched. I'm just saying that to date, no terrorist which has been caught so far used a Mac, as far as I know. If an Apple store happens to open up in Islamabad, then things might change.

Eventually, the sales of android tablets being made by every other manufacturer on the planet might just sell more than one tablet made by one manufacturer. It might be many years from now, but it'll probably happen, just like with the phones.

When people compare iOS to Android, they're comparing 1 company VS everybody else, which includes hundreds of companies. That tells you how strong Apple is compared to everybody else.

One would normally think that dozens of companies would sell more products than one company would given many more model choices and lower price points. That's almost a given. But in Apple's case with tablets, they might be proven wrong. I understand that Android smartphones (a dozen companies, dozens of various models and many BOGO deals) are outselling basically the one model iPhone, but Apple isn't being overwhelmingly beaten. 10% less market share than Android isn't all that much and Apple is making nearly 50% of smartphone profits, so Apple is doing very well.

Narayen is entitled to his opinion and a lot of analysts are saying the same thing that Apple tablets will be in the minority eventually, but there's certainly no indication of that happening at this point. \

I'm willing to bet that with time, the history of the MP3 will repeat itself with most other devices that apple makes. 10 years ago (I don't know the exact dateshoot me) Apple entered the MP3 player market. They now own 70-75% of that market, leaving the others to fight over the crumbs, with profits so slim that the smarter companies have surrendered.

The iPhone hit the street to a chorus of guffaws (the YouTube of Balmer dissing the iPhone is a classic) just over four years ago; the street is already filled with the walking deadRIM, Palm, Nokia, Motorola, and iPhone hasn't gotten much beyond 10% in most markets; It is certainly more profitable than ANY phone (let's face it, who wants market share if you're not making money?). True, Android is giving Apple a run for its money on the smartphone side, but with ecosystem tweaks and NFR technology, the highly capable iPhone will become even more useful; I'd be surprised if the Android momentum continues much longer. So 70-75% in another area in, let's say 10 years from launch date (2017)

iPad Hmmmmto say that the iPad will become a has-been is to ignore history. Apple has or will capture 70-75% of the market of products that existed before they came along with a better mousetrap. iPad on the other hand, is an entirely new category. To believe that anyone will make significant inroads into a category that apple created is just silly; that CEO should step down

As much as I hate to say something positive about Windows, it appeases that Narayen has forgotten or is ignoring the fact the Windows 8 is supporting HTML 5. That will certainly place additional pressure on the Flash platform to compete, forcing them to operate more efficiently if they want to survive.

And, please tell me that Narayen doesn't really think that the iPad will continue, unabated in it's current form. I'm willing to bet that Apple will continue to develop new and better innovative products that will advance the computing window in the future. In short, Apple is not going to develop a stagnant product line. It will continue to innovate. And, as long as Adobe and others continue to think that the goal is to beat the iPad, they will lose to the next innovative product.

Eventually, the sales of android tablets being made by every other manufacturer on the planet might just sell more than one tablet made by one manufacturer. It might be many years from now, but it'll probably happen, just like with the phones.

When people compare iOS to Android, they're comparing 1 company VS everybody else, which includes hundreds of companies. That tells you how strong Apple is compared to everybody else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apple ][

Eventually, the sales of android tablets being made by every other manufacturer on the planet might just sell more than one tablet made by one manufacturer. It might be many years from now, but it'll probably happen, just like with the phones.

When people compare iOS to Android, they're comparing 1 company VS everybody else, which includes hundreds of companies. That tells you how strong Apple is compared to everybody else.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Apple ][

Eventually, the sales of android tablets being made by every other manufacturer on the planet might just sell more than one tablet made by one manufacturer. It might be many years from now, but it'll probably happen, just like with the phones.

When people compare iOS to Android, they're comparing 1 company VS everybody else, which includes hundreds of companies. That tells you how strong Apple is compared to everybody else.

While I dont directly disagree because anything is possible. But there are a couple factors that play into this which I like to point out.

But first, i have to say that I enjoy seeing that other people also, like me, realize that most fandroids touting android vs iphone seem oblivious at the fact that an android phone DOES NOT EXIST that can compete with the iPhone. It takes probably about 100 different phone models to compete with just the 1, ONE iPhone. They see it as a good thing that it takes that many android models to just "tie" the iPhone.

They also COMPLETELY remain ignorant when you throw ALL iOS devices into the mix, they outnumber android by almost 2:1! This includes iPhones, iPad, iPOD Touch.

Please name me ONE android product that is being bought faster than the rate of production?!?!?!?!? HUH? What was that???? NOTHING!!!!

1. iPad is NOT limited to one carrier.
2. The iPad price point beats current and upcoming competition.

Those two things alone creates the wide open market segment that Apple could not have with the iPhone because of their decision to get locked into a 4-5 year contract with ATT.

Had this barrier been removed I think the landscape would be MUCH different.

I dont think you would see even half the current droid population in the US had the iPhone been available on all 4 carriers from launch day or at least by the iPhone 3G.

And had Apple started the lower entry price points also with the 3G we would be in a very different ballpark.

Since the iPad does NOT have these barrier I think we will see the current figures for a while. By years end will be nearly two years since the iPad debuted and Apple will still have 80% of the market. I also truely beleive that Apple will keep up to 70% thru 2012 too!

One would normally think that dozens of companies would sell more products than one company would given many more model choices and lower price points. That's almost a given. But in Apple's case with tablets, they might be proven wrong. I understand that Android smartphones (a dozen companies, dozens of various models and many BOGO deals) are outselling basically the one model iPhone, but Apple isn't being overwhelmingly beaten. 10% less market share than Android isn't all that much and Apple is making nearly 50% of smartphone profits, so Apple is doing very well.

Narayen is entitled to his opinion and a lot of analysts are saying the same thing that Apple tablets will be in the minority eventually, but there's certainly no indication of that happening at this point. \

We all know that when you have 400 OEMS producing a tablet that runs one freaking OS, that is free, they will collectively beat the lone tablet that runs a different OS.
Moto is on its 2nd tablet in 4 months. Now multiply that by 200 OEMS and you'll eventually have a glut of tablets on the market going for $50.00 You know damn well this xmas them crap tablets running Android 2.1 will be big a$$ doorbusters at Wall mart on black Friday.

Those two things alone creates the wide open market segment that Apple could not have with the iPhone because of their decision to get locked into a 4-5 year contract with ATT.

Had this barrier been removed I think the landscape would be MUCH different.

While I agree that Apple will be in a strong position for the foreseeable future.... I must correct one thing...

The iPhone is on 200 carriers around the globe. If the iPhone was on Verizon or even Sprint and T-Mobile for the past couple of years in the US... it probably wouldn't have made that much difference overall.

The iPhone is already on multiple carriers in many countries... and in many cases Android phones overall beat iPhone sales.

But I don't really think that hurts Apple... especially if you read my previous comment 2 up from this one...

Android tablets will dominate the market??? Where were till now?? That game has already ended. Apple is dominating the tablet market and that's finished. iPad became another iPod in terms of dominance and your crappy company is dying and begging to have flash on iOS devices. Even on my Mac I'm not using flash anymore (with extensions like Click2Flash) let alone on mobile devices. Even MS and Google are moving towards HTML5

Does anyone really use any apps from AIR? I cannot name a single one...

The only one I use is the desktop Pandora program. If it wasn't for my love of music I would not have a use for A. Air. Just downloaded the latest Adobe Reader X and it was 285 megs ... give me a freakin' break!

All the complaints about Flash are completely warranted. It's a terrible program that sucks the life force from my processor. Someone here mentioned turning off flash in the browser and I was absolutely amazed at how much better my computer performed.